ScreenTones Tutorial

Copic Marker Blog Entry:

Using Traditional Screentones

with Copic Marker

This tutorial was originally featured on the CopicMarker.com website, you can check out the original posting via this link.

Once upon a time, back before there
was Photoshop and the Pop Art Movement, artists needed a way to add consistent
and reliable texture and tone to their images. Screen tones became widely used
in the 1930’s by artists in the cartooning and advertising fields as a
shortcut, and became the industry standard for background tones and texture.

The screen tones are made up of a matrix of dots that build up a visual tone or
gradient, depending on the density and size of the dot. Today, screen tones are
used both digitally and manually (traditional-style) by artists that want a
particular look and texture, particularly popular in Japan among Manga artists.
Used with Copic Marker, screen tones can really add a lot of pop to your work,
and can give your artwork that polished and ‘professional’ look of the comic
book industry.

Screen
tones are quick and easy to apply; all you’ll need is a couple of screen tone
sheets, a fine cutting knife (Such as an X-Acto) and a burnishing tool (I use
an old flat plastic pallet knife). In this tutorial, I will demonstrate how to
apply the tones, and talk about 2 different ways that they can be used.

To begin, these are what screen tones look like when in
their package, as you can see; they come in a variety of styles. Typically,
they are backed in a waxed paper sheet, which is easily peeled back to expose
the sticky side of the screen tone.

One way
to use the screen tones is to cut a rough shape about the size of the area that
you wish to cover with the screen tone. Sticky side down, screen tone is sticky
enough to hold its place, but you won’t have to worry about it ripping the
paper, it has a very low tack. Using
an X-acto knife, cut away the excess area and simply peel off the unwanted tone.
The screen tone sheet is very thin; you need only apply very little
pressure to slice the sheet, and not your artwork! *Remember to always use care
with the sharp blade, and cut away from your fingers and body!

Voila! There you have a very simple
application of a screen tone. In this case, I have chosen to use the tone to
describe the texture and darkness of the skateboard. If you look closely, you
can see the matrix of dots that make up the tone.

Now, I’ll demonstrate another
technique for applying the screen tone to finished artwork, which includes a soft
colored pencil, like a non-photo blue.

Here we have a very simply colored artwork, in which I made sure to keep
the tones on the lighter side, as I will be adding darker tones as an overlay,
using the screen tones!

At this point, I will take a screen
tone sheet, which in this case is a gradient that fades from light to dark. As
the screen tone has a semi-transparent backing, I can place it above my artwork
without worrying about it sticking in place. (No, that’s not a bad photo,
that’s the gradient of the screen tone!)

I have placed the sheet above the artwork and will now use
my colored pencil to draw the shapes that I will ultimately cut and place on
the finished piece. Drawing lightly, the pencil lines will be erasable with a
white vinyl eraser.

Tracing my lines with the X-acto knife and
peeling away the excess, I now have a consistently toned image that fades in
its tone from light (near the top) to dark (at the bottom of the tail)!

Another way to use screen tones is
to add nifty texture and effects to backgrounds, which can supercharge an image
and draw attention to certain areas, or away from others.

Here I have chosen a sunburst
pattern and after peeling the waxed backing, have placed it stick-side down on
the artwork. Cutting along the lines of the drawing, I simply peel away the
excess areas, rub the screen tone into place, and Presto! Instant Impact!

I encourage you to pick up a couple
of screen tones and experiment using them with Copic marker! Here’s a tip: You
can use Copic Marker on top of the
screen tones for interesting transparent color overlays or overlap the tones
for added texture and effects. Hope you enjoyed this bit of how-to, now be
careful with those X-Acto knives, and have fun!

Thanks for reading!

Jackson

P.S.
The screentones and markers used in this tutorial are available on the
CopicMarker.com website, which you can access via the banner on the
left!